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Craig Jones, prosecuting, said Cardy caused the car to “rev aggressively” and accelerate towards the pedestrians before it “swerved violently” and mounted the pavement.

The court heard the two pedestrians leapt out of the way of the car as it came towards them - one jumped clear, but the victim was caught on the leg by the front nearside of the car.

Cardy then drove off.

The barrister said police were soon on the scene, and while the victim was in the back of the patrol car giving officers his statement he saw the Aygo returning to the area. Police went after the car, but could not find it.

The victim suffered pain in his leg, arm and hand but did not require medical treatment.

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Cardy, of Neath Road, Briton Ferry , had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, to driving without a licence or insurance and to failing to stop when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard that at the time of the offence he was subject to both a suspended prison sentence - imposed for punching a partner in the face - and to a community order imposed for throwing a brick through a car window.

A probation report into Cardy concluded he has a “low level of maturity” and acts “impulsively”.

Dean Pulling, for Cardy, said his client had told him he had intended to “scare” his girlfriend’s ex rather than to cause him harm. The barrister described the defendant as an “unsophisticated young man” who acknowledged he had a lot of growing up to do.

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Judge Geraint Walters described Cardy’s behaviour as “outrageous”, and said what he had done had been hugely dangerous.

He told the defendant: “This was not an accident - this was as deliberate and deliberate can be. You quite purposely used that vehicle as a weapon - but for the fact they jumped out of the way, the chances are they could have been seriously injured.”

For dangerous driving the judge sentenced Cardy to eight months in a young offenders institution, and banned him from driving for two years.

He also activated two months of the previously imposed suspended prison sentence to run at the same time as the new sentence, and revoked the outstanding community order.

No separate penalties were imposed for the other matters.

The judge added: “I am wholly convinced that any right-thinking member of the public would be aghast at a judge who thought this could be dealt with by anything other than immediate prison.”